Adamawa Teachers Cry Out Over 20 Years Without Promotion

By Umar Dankano, Yola

Some aggrieved primary school teachers have expressed dismay over the Adamawa State Government’s failure to implement their long-awaited promotions and emoluments.

Reports indicate that Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri issued a directive last month (May 2026) for the payment of all pending promotions and emoluments arrears to civil servants across ministries, agencies, departments, and MDAs.

A few affected teachers who spoke in Yola on Monday voiced displeasure at the government’s nonchalant attitude towards their welfare. They accused the government of abandoning them for over 20 years without any promotion in their careers.

The teachers complained that those on Grade Levels 05 to 06 receive between ₦68,000 and ₦72,000 as monthly salary, while newly employed teachers on Levels 07 to 08 earn ₦100,000 monthly.

Investigation by this newspaper revealed that the majority of primary school teachers in the state have worked without promotion for decades. Although Governor Ahmadu Fintiri recently promised to implement all pending promotions and emoluments in May 2026, nothing has been done so far.

Mohammed Chubado, a teacher, said in an interview that he was promoted in January 2007 but the promotion has never been implemented. He noted that he has less than nine months left to retire from service.

Chubado lamented that despite being on Level 13, his salary is far below expectations. He added that some of his contemporaries in the civil service have retired as permanent secretaries, while he has remained a teacher for 19 years.

Another primary school teacher, Maryam Mahmud, described the non-implementation of the Governor’s directive as unacceptable.

“When such an important pronouncement was made during the 2026 May Day celebration and affirmed by our labour union leaders, we all believed it,” she said. “But here we are in the second week of June with no headway.”

Mahmud criticised previous governments for failing to address the issue, stressing that it is unfair for a teacher like herself—who has been on Level 12—to still receive the salary of a Level 9 teacher after 19 years.

Efforts to reach the State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Faisal Mohammed, proved unsuccessful as calls and SMS messages sent to his verified mobile number were not answered at the time of filing this report.

However, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Leader Leneke, confirmed that the government has commenced the bureaucratic process and the directive will soon be implemented.

Leneke urged civil servants in the state to be patient with the workings of government, assuring them that Governor Ahmadu Fintiri is a promise keeper.

“Let me be honest with you. Because the Governor made the promise last month in May, we need to give the benefit of the doubt to next month. Some of these things go through a process. Let’s wait till the following month, and if nothing happens, then we can rightly raise questions,” he said.

The commissioner added that the state government recently recruited 5,000 post-primary school teachers, 2,000 health workers, and is currently enrolling another 5,000 new workers into the state civil service — bringing the total to 12,000 new workers under Governor Ahmadu Fintiri’s administration.